Colorado reboots one-stop small business portal
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and Secretary of State Wayne Williams unveiled a new website on Tuesday designed to make it easier for Coloradans to start and run a business.
On the site — called MyBizColorado — Coloradans can obtain professional licenses, apply for a sales tax license, register employees for wage withholding and unemployment insurance and access business planning resources. State government websites like these are an increasingly common tool used to bridge the knowledge gap between and government staffers and business owners.
State officials say they hope the tool will cultivate a more entrepreneurial ethos while lifting administrative burdens and clearing as much red tape as possible.
“I know the challenges facing start-up businesses,” said Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, in a press release. “By streamlining the state’s processes, we can remove some of those hurdles. MyBizColorado is another reason Colorado is one of the best places to start and grow a new business.”
One of the more intuitive features of the website is its one-stop-shop feature, allowing users to deal with multiple government agencies centrally and all at once. Previously, start-ups and businesses would be required to work with several agencies using different websites and services.
“MyBizColorado is our way of letting entrepreneurs know we recognize what it takes to start a business,” said Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne in a press release. “We want to make it as efficient as possible so they can spend less time doing paperwork and more time on growing their business.”
The Colorado Small Business Administration estimates that small businesses in the state employ one million people, nearly half of the state’s workforce. Small businesses add 30,000 to 40,000 jobs to the workforce annually in Colorado.
In Forbes’ 2017 Best States for Business rankings , Colorado placed eighth.
MyBizColorado , also designed to be accessed via tablet and smartphone, will replace the Colorado Business Express, a decade-old service that was only available on computers.
